Walk Like Thunder
by Domino.necklace
Summary: It was at that moment that she saw a desperate girl running toward the train with all of her might. The girl had pink hair and a large duffel bag that looked as if it had belonged to an older man, probably her father, in her arms. If that didn't scream "teenage runaway" she didn't know what possibly could. She would know.
1. Meeting

It was odd. None of the other passengers turned to look at her. These people were completely different from the people from her home town who would pry until they had enough information to write a biography about you. Her business was hers and their business was their own. Karin briefly glanced at the unexpectedly empty seat next to her before looking out the window.

The train had just stopped at some dingy station in a random small town. There weren't any people waiting for the train, but she supposed the conductor had stopped out of protocol. The station, if you could call it that, was basically a concrete slab with a dirt road leading up to it. There weren't any walls and there was a single rusted bench with peeling green paint for potential passengers to rest on. It was in such dire need of maintenance that there were plants growing out of the cracks in the concrete. Karin could only imagine that it would be completely covered in a few months, once spring was over and summer was in full force.

There was a distinctive sound before she felt the train begin to crawl forward. It was at that moment that she saw a desperate girl running toward the train with all of her might. The girl had pink hair and a large duffel bag that looked as if it had belonged to an older man, probably her father, in her arms. If that didn't scream "teenage runaway" she didn't know what possibly could. She would know.

Karin watched curiously as the girl managed to throw the duffel bag inside the train before taking a leap of faith and landing knees first on the hard floor. The passengers barely gave her a second glance before going back to their own business: reading the paper, staring out the window, sleeping. etc.

Karin kept her eyes on the girl as she walked up to the last empty seat on the train. The one next to her. The girl had her finger pointed towards the seat while looking like she wanted to flee, "Um, is this seat taken?"

Karin barely stopped herself from scowling. She wasn't that hard to approach. How did this girl intend to survive being so timid? Karin sighed before shrugging, "The seat's empty."

"Oh, ok." The girl sat down and lent the duffel bag against herself. Now that she was close, Karin could see that the girl's dye job was a lot worse than she thought. The dye was completely uneven and she clearly didn't have enough dye. The girl's hair was pretty long. She probably needed two boxes to cover it, but only bought one.

It was at that moment that Karin realized that she was acting as nosy as _those _people, and she promptly shifted her gaze out the window. She would not analyze other people by their looks and judge. Even if she was probably right.

Nodding to herself in her newfound resolve, Karin vowed to leave the girl alone and simply sit in silence as they both contemplated their places in life on this, undoubtedly long, train ride.

"Oh, I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier! My name is Sakura. I was a little nervous a second ago because I'm sure I looked like a fool jumping onto the train like that…"

Karin slowly turned to look at her. '_Seriously? The girl decides to talk after I make my awesome ego-inflating vow of truth and wisdom? I know what I just said about judging, but "Sakura" really? Is her life ambition to dance naked on a pole?'_

A few silent seconds passed as Karin's eyes widened and her face inflamed before she turned back to normal and gave forth a lackluster response, "My name's Karin."

* * *

Sakura observed the girl in front of her with trepidation. She had red hair and glasses. It made her look like a spirit of fire or something. But that wasn't what put her off. The girl was emanating this aura. If she could put words to it would say, "Don't talk to me. Whatever you want to ask is none of your business."

Sakura didn't think the girl realized it, but all of the people were leaning away from the girl. People were hiding behind week-old newspapers, feigning sleep like an animal playing dead, and others were trying to will themselves away while looking out the window. Some of them were even passing notes between themselves. She got a clear look at one in front of her it said, "What do we do if she pulls out a gun?" and the answer was, "I don't know, but for the love of God and Baby Jesus do _not _provoke her!"

A few people were giving Sakura sympathetic looks when they thought it safe to do so. An old man dressed in an old coat wearing dirty gloves, probably a gardener or something, mouthed the words ,"Do not provoke" while pointing at the girl next to her.

Sakura waved nicely to the people surrounding her. She was perfectly content to let time pass silently so she could pass on the story of how she survived a train ride sitting next to a girl thug to her grandchildren. Besides, she didn't want to mess up her grand escape so her stupid sadistic inner had to take the stage.

**"You know, it would be funny to try to talk to her and watch all of these people die of heart attacks."**

_"That's murder."_

**"Nope, it's manslaughter**."

Sakura sighed before turning to the girl who was shaking her fist toward the window and muttering to herself about "Judgement" and something about one's "Place in life". If she didn't start a conversation with this girl inner would pester her for the rest of the ride. She had five hours before she would reach her destination.

Without any further thought, she introduced herself.


	2. Criminals

Karin watched the train pull away with enough fury and anguish to explode a metaphorical building. Her face flushed furiously and she kicked the bag of money and jewelry they had "acquired", so hard that it ended up on the other side of the tracks.

"Maybe you shouldn't take it out on the loot? I mean, we're probably going to need it…"

Karin's head turned around dramatically fast as she stared at the girl who was sitting atop an old fallen tree. _The bitch doesn't even look sorry. I'm so going to kick her ass. _

She charged toward the girl, pointing her finger at her and yelling, "YOU have absolutely no place telling me what to do! It's your fault that we were thrown off the train. You just had to provoke everyone, didn't you? Do you have some type of mental disorder?"

In an effort to escape the redhead's wrath, Sakura was leaning back so far she almost fell off of the tree. Karin's face was dangerously close, and she was a little afraid that she was going to bite her.

"What are _you _talking about? You're the one that was terrorizing the people on the train with your menacing self! I just thought it would be a little funny if I-"

"If what? If you pretended that we were criminals?"

"Well…"

* * *

"So, what do you think the land of vegetables is like?"

"**Really healthy."**

Sakura waited patiently for an answer from the, thus far, difficult girl. They had been seated next to each other for the past two hours, and, after their initial introduction, her acquaintance had clammed up and been answering her attempts at small talk with as few syllables as possible. So, Sakura did the socially acceptable thing and continued to impart her thoughts onto the other girl, whether she wanted to hear them or not.

Meanwhile, Karin had made peace with the fact that she would not be able to ease the growing tension headache she had any time soon, as the girl had been incessantly questioning her about some of the most mundane and pointless things in the world: "What do you think came first, the chicken or the egg?", "Have you ever used coconut oil as conditioner?", and many other random questions as well.

Karin did sometimes wonder what the Land of Vegetables was like. Were there a lot of vegetables, or was it incorrectly named like the Land of Fire (They were lacking in volcanoes and forest fires and had too many trees for that to make sense). Regardless, Karin found this Sakura girl very annoying.

As her resolve to ignore the girl weakened and her urge to murder the innocent grew larger, Sakura continued to ask her more questions.

"So, where are you from anyway?"

"Oto."

"Really? I heard that the people there are really scary."

Karin didn't justify that with a response. And Sakura, finally, left her alone. What she didn't realize was that Sakura was currently tossing an evil prank around in her mind.

"**All I'm saying is that it would be pretty funny if we pretended to take the train over. That's all."**

"_It's not a good idea. We could get arrested. Besides, we aren't far enough away to make a scene like that."_

"**But you **_**are**_ **bored. I'm you, so I can tell. Do you want to start the story of your adventures to begin with a boring train ride? What will you tell your grandchildren?"**

It was with those thoughts fresh in her mind that Sakura took in all the citizens on the train, still avoiding the danger-zone known as Karin. Sakura couldn't help but giggle.

Karin looked up curiously and was about to ask what was so funny, but Sakura acted before she could.

In a flash, Sakura had taken a knife out of her pocket and was waving it around. "Everyone! This is a train jacking. If you want to get out of this unharmed It would be wise to give us your money or anything valuable you have on you. We are cold-blooded killers, so don't do anything stupid!"

The people on the train all shrank back in absolute horror. The train they were riding on traveled through the most rural area of the Land of Fire. Most of them had only heard of such criminals targeting innocent people. And, since there were always so few passengers, there were only two cars, the one they were in, and the empty one behind them that was usually rented to carry cargo. They were completely alone with these criminals and had absolutely zero experience with these types of crimes.

Some of them were whispering quietly to each other. "My God, they've killed before, I bet they'll do it again!"

"Just do what they say!"

"That one with the red hair is the one we should look out for. I could tell there was something wrong with her as soon as I set eyes on her."

Karin stared stupidly at the girl. She had sat next to a thug the whole time and didn't even know it! _Wait...what did she mean by "we" and "us"? Does she have an accomplice hiding somewhere?_

Sakura then tossed an empty bag that she had grabbed from the man in front of her to the girl sitting in the very front of the car. "Put everything you've got in there! Then pass it to the next person till it gets back here! Or we," she pulled Karin up by her arm as she said this, "will make sure to take it from your rapidly cooling corpse."

The passengers complied.

Meanwhile, Karin's face was scrunched up as the fact that she had been forced into becoming an accomplice registered through her mind. She was about to, again, voice her thoughts when she was interrupted by Sakura tossing the, now full, bag into Karin's arms before making one last declaration.

"Ladies and gentleman, you are too kind! As compensation for your cooperation, we will leave without hurting anyone." She then grabbed her duffel bag and shoved Karin's backpack into her arms before pulling open the door in the back and dragging Karin through it. Then, still pulling Karin, she ran through the cargo car and opened the side door. She smiled when she saw that they were riding along a sandy beach. Good for landing on.

"Wait! we really don;t have to jump, okay we can get off at the next station!" Karin had to yell over the sound of the wind in her ears and the screech of the train over the rails.

"The police will be at the next station. I'm not going to jail. Besides, this is way more fun than any train ride filled with a bunch of gutless hicks. Oh, and don't forget. You're an accomplice, so they will definitely arrest you if you stay on the train."

"I'm not an accomplice!"

Sakura smirked before poking at the bag in Karin;s arms. "If that were true, you wouldn't be holding that would you? No one would believe you. Either way, I'm jumping now while I have a safe landing. You better make up your mind before it's too late to get out!"

Karin watched the girl jump out of the train with trepidation. _I am not a damned accomplice! But..._Karin remembered the gray walls and the yellow eyes, _I sure as hell am not going to be anyone's prisoner! I will not be found!_

Karin pulled her backpack onto her shoulders and clutched the bag of money tightly before jumping.

_I will never be found!_


	3. Direction

"It's agreed then? We'll get to the next town, cash out the loot in some shady place, split it evenly, and then we go our separate ways. Agreed?"

Karin nodded in agreement before carefully pushing her glasses up her nose. After her jump, Karin had found her glasses on the wet sand. She had managed to grab them just as they were on the verge of being swept away by the tide.

Sakura had spent about five minutes listening Karin coo at them before Karin remembered her vendetta against her. Which, of course, resulted in the pair spending two hours arguing over whose fault it was before they came up with the, admittedly simple, plan as previously mentioned.

Sakura eyed her forced accomplice as she set the terms and conditions of their camaraderie clear. Karin didn't seem like she would betray her. After all, her neck was on the line too, but she wasn't about to make a stupid mistake like trusting her too fast.

"**Forget her betraying us; we should ditch her. Then we won't have to worry about this "splitting the loot" nonsense."**

"_We aren't doing that. She doesn't look like the type to survive on her own. It really would be murder to leave her. Besides, I don't want to be stuck listening to you drone on about your "plans" endlessly. If I wanted that then I never would have left home."_

"_**Excuse you?"**_

Sakura was, quite rudely, torn out of her conversation when her eyes were suddenly filled with sand. She promptly fell to the ground and rolled over toward the water. Sakura cupped the water with her hands and splashed it into her face urgently.

"What in the devil's name is_ your _problem?"

"I've asked you which direction we're going at least three times. I figured if the whole "third time's the charm" thing didn't get your attention, a face full of sand would."

"You could have done something less drastic like poking me or something! Besides, that's a stupid question we're obviously going...we're going...toward...the town."

"The town?"

"Y-yes! The one closest to where we are now!"

"Oh, so you know where we are now?"

There was a considerable moment of silence before Sakura rose from her prostrated position on the ground and picked up a piece of driftwood and said, "We can settle this the old fashioned way. Whichever way this stick is pointing after I throw, will be the way we go. We don't have to worry about the pesky decision-making process if fate decides this for us!"

She then closed her eyes and threw the stick with all of her might. She then opened her eyes to a most misfortunate sight.

**"You've got to be kidding me."**

Sakura stuttered**, **"Th-th-the-"

Karin stepped forward and pushed her glasses back up once more. "I wonder if that means we're supposed to swim or learn how to fly."

The stick was standing straight up in the water.

* * *

"You're sure this is her?"

The old man took off his gardening gloves and held the picture close to his face. "That thug with the red hair, I'd know her anywhere. She tried to kill me, you know!"

"Kill you? She's hardly the type. You're sure this is the girl who supposedly committed the train robbery?"

The old gardener shoved the picture back at the man. "Yes, I'm sure. If you're done asking me the same question over and over again, I'll be getting back to work." He then sashayed off with more sass than an elderly man should be capable of possessing.

The man sighed before placing the picture back into his wallet. None of the passengers had been very informative. They all agreed that the girl they saw was Karin, but were very tight lipped about what actually happened. One woman had muttered something about the "female demons" coming back to kill them if she spoke. People from the country were hard to interview like that.

Regardless, he was about 98% certain that Karin was on this train at one point. But he could hardly understand her motivations. Why would a public servant disappear for so long only to be found in another country committing crimes like the very people she fought against?

"Well, people do change…Ah, this doesn't make any sense." The man sat down on a nearby bench with his face scrunched up in thought. After a few moments he stood, took a swig of water from his water bottle, swung his bag onto one of his shoulders, and began to walk back to the motel he was staying at momentarily. "As soon as I find you I'm going to smack you and ask what the hell you've been thinking. A criminal? Seriously? You can't just go back to the police force with something like that on your record."

* * *

Karin swatted yet another mosquito that had landed on her neck. She couldn't believe that she had gone along with all the other girl's whims thus far. The train robbery was one thing, but she had then followed her after the deed was done.

After the botched attempt to rely on fate and its ultimate wisdom, Sakura merely picked up her duffel bag and said, "Screw it all. We're following the shore until we come upon a harbor town or something. Oh, and we're going left. Left is more creative than right."

Now they were walking along a dirt road, and although she could see the ocean to one side of her there was a smelly oozy swamp on the other side of the road. Every now and then, if she wasn't careful, she would step into a thick puddle of mud. Her feet were making squelching sounds against her shoes because it got inside, and her jeans were beginning to harden where the mud was drying on her jeans.

Karin felt like smacking herself. She should have let the girl walk away. She should have thrown the "loot", as Sakura puts it, at her and then gone in the opposite direction. Instead, she was following her around like a lost and kicked puppy.

"_I'm pretty sure she's younger than me too. Now that I think about it, just how old is she?" _

Karin was unable to leave this question in the recesses of her mind. "How old are you anyway?"

Sakura glanced back at Karin. "What does that matter?"

"All I know about you is that you're annoying and you have a bad dye job. If we're accomplices I at least want to know how old you are."

Sakura put her finger up to her mouth as if she were thinking very hard about her answer.

Karin waited impatiently for her answer.

"I'm as old as I am."

Karin clenched her hand into a fist, and retained the urge to hit her.

"_This is going to be one hell of a difficult trip. I'll just get my half and then split. I never want this girl in my life ever again."_


	4. Team

"Port city. A city that is also a port for ships…what a creative name."

Karin and Sakura looked upon the sign for "port city" with a look of disdain. The sign was wooden with the words were deeply carved in and painted black. It wasn't old or new nor was it huge or small, it just did its job as a sign in a perfectly effective manner.

Neither of the girls wanted to enter into the aforementioned city: Sakura because it was too boring, and Karin because exchanging the loot would solidify her criminal status if anyone were to look into it. None the less, they were going in there. Their respective futures depended on it.

Sakura smacked Karin on the back of the head, "That's right! In this incredibly uninspired town we shall find a person. And this person shall be the one that exchanges their money for our loot!"

"Are you sure we'll find anyone to trade with here?"

"All we need is to find one sleazy scumbag. And, where there are people in the world, there are sleazy scumbags."

"I honestly can't argue with that."

* * *

"I'll give five-hundred to each of you. That is, you and your odd friend who's scaring away my customers outside the door."

"Oh, come on! It's worth at least one thousand each. Are you trying to swindle us or something?"

"Five-hundred." The man behind the counter gave his price with a determined smile, "Besides, are you crazy? I'm being generous here. There is one new watch, and a bunch of poorly made jewelry that looks as if it had been passed down from generation to generation of poor farmers! What did you do, hijack one of those old trains?"

Sakura tried to keep her cool as she contemplated the likelihood that the man in front of her was gifted with an all-seeing eye. It would probably be best if she just took the amount he offered, if she kept pushing him he might just tell her to leave. "Fine, we'll take the five hundred. It seems that some people just can't be reasoned with."

It was with an air of importance and the general pompous look of someone that feels as if they are better than others that Sakura glided out of the shady "pawn shop" building, and threw Karin's half at her.

"You see, my dearest Karin, I am very capable when it comes to these kinds of things."

"You know that I could hear everything said in there right? You backed down like a schoolgirl who can't confess to her senior."

"Is that so? I would have liked to have seen your ugly mug try to make a deal like that." Sakura paused before continuing. "Not that it matters, this is where we go our separate ways."

Sakura saluted Karin before going toward the more unsavory part of the small city twirling her hair as she walked. More simply put, she went left.

* * *

"Man, 500 is not going to be enough to get us anywhere. What to do. What to do…"

**"****I vote that we should make more money before leaving. And when I say we should make more money, I mean that we should rob the shit out of someone and get out. And this time there won't be any "accomplices", so we get the full cut."**

"Good idea. But who?"

"Why, what is a beautiful girl like you doing wandering around alone?"

Sakura had to merely turn and observe the characteristics of the man behind her: expensive suit, nice watch, and a lecherous face to realize just who her newest target would be.

Sakura widened her eyes innocently and clasped her hands together before approaching the man. "Oh, good sir! I'm terribly lost and alone! You seem like a very nice man. Could you please help me?"

The man, realizing that he had just struck gold with his amazing one-liner, tilted her head up and spoke, "Of course I can help you! However, it is getting rather late and it will be cold soon. How far are you from home?"

Sakura feigned tears. "A-Actually, I live a couple of towns away…so I'll probably find somewhere to sleep here for the night until I can go in the morn-"

"Say no more! You may stay with me for the night." After this declaration the man's eye's sparkled with glee before he continued, "I can even prepare dinner for you as well."

"That is way too kind. I don't think I can intrude…"

"Nonsense, a gentleman would never leave a lady hungry in the cold night."

Sakura made a big show of sighing her consent before speaking, "Well, Mr. Gentleman, if I am to stay with you for this lovely night, then what am I to call you?"

"My name is Jiraiya, but Mr. Gentleman works just as well."

* * *

Sakura was in for a surprise when, instead of leading her to a sizable house, Jiraiya led her to a hotel that seemed to cater mostly to businessmen.

"A hotel? The way you spoke made it seem as if you lived in these parts. If not, what are you doing at Port City?"

"I'm pretty sure you can guess by what I'm wearing."

At Sakura's disapproving look he gave an actual answer, "I'm a businessman. I'm here for the week to collect some payments. Then I'll be heading back home to continue business there."

"You're a debt collector?"

"Something like it."

At the present moment they had just entered the room. It was plain, but Sakura saw a pair of car keys on the dresser. It was only a matter of time before she made this man her victim.

Jiraiya closed the curtains to the window, and began to make a show of taking off his tie smiling at her the entire time. It was…gross.

She traced her fingers against the pocketknife in her pocket before smiling back at the man.

**"****Yes, very soon."**

Almost simultaneously as Sakura thought her very bad thought of bad and evil, the glass of the window broke in and Jiraiya went crashing to the ground.

* * *

Karin's eyes bulged as she watched the man in the hotel room close the curtains with a devilish look on his face.

"Then that means that they're…oh _hell _no!"

Let's be clear on this. Karin had never _intended _to spy on Sakura. It wasn't like she was worried about the under aged girl's fate or anything. It was a mere coincidence that she spotted Sakura and the man walking together as she was waiting for the bus.

Karin didn't follow out of concern for Sakura's well-being. She was just going to make sure that the girl didn't start any more mischief, and then she was going to save whatever poor unfortunate soul that had the misfortune to cross paths with her. That was all.

"I should just leave. I look like some kind of weird pervert, and I'm talking out loud." A man who was about to go back to his room for the night promptly switched directions away from her.

Karin waved.

She was about to just leave and let it be, but…_I didn't do anything that time either. And now, well those girls don't have a future anymore. I don't know anything about that guy. Hell, Sakura doesn't know anything about that guy. If something happens to her too…_

"I guess that fucking settles it then. But how do I get in without paying?"

Karin looked around before her eyes landed on a discarded, and conveniently placed, brick on the side of the road. She picked it up and ran toward the window, launched it with all of her strength, and heard a man cry out in agony. Depending on the situation, it was a really bad thing or a really good thing.

She climbed in through the window to see what she had done. The man was unconscious on the floor with the brick settled next to him on the ground. Glass was scattered all around the room, sirens were going off throughout the building, and Sakura was sitting on the bed, pouting.

"Dude, seriously? You took out my prey! That just isn't cool." She paused for a second before continuing, "Although I am impressed. You took out an innocent guy without remorse, and you did it with more flair that what I had planned. I was just gonna take out a knife on him."

"So you weren't in danger?"

"No."

"Well, fuck."

There was a moment of silence as Karin contemplated her situation before Sakura spoke. "Not that I don't enjoy the comfortable silence, but there are alarms still blaring and I can hear people coming down the hall."

"Why is the possibility of a prison sentence coming around the horizon such a common occurrence in my life right now? Just why?"

Sakura stood and grabbed the car keys. "Want so know something comforting?"

"What could you say that I could ever find comforting?"

"Jail is only ever a possibility if the police catch you." She then pressed the unlock button on the key ring. A car in the lot across the street responded with a distant beep. "And, my dearest Karin, I won't ever be caught…No, that's not quite right._ We_ won't ever be caught."

Sakura threw the keys at Karin, "That means that you're driving. After all, you got into this one, so you're getting us out of it." Sakura then climbed out the window.

"Okay, I'm right behind you."


End file.
